Since
time immemorial Satan has attempted to duplicate the works of God in every
possible way in order to deceive God's Elect. Even before the existence of
Mankind, when he was in his glorious state as Lucifer, the Son of the Morning,
Satan had sought to be like God. Then he fell from grace and deceived one
third of the angelic hosts and dragged them down to earth with him (Isa.
14:12-15; Rev. 12:4). Yes, he had made himself an Adversary of God, and as
long as he lives he will not stop to thwart God's Plan.

The people
of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are truly a blessed people. Now, if you
are thinking that I am referring to natural Israel, please read Galatians
3:29:

“And
if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise”.

Amen.
Yes, the Sacred Scriptures of God have been written for us, the true
worshippers of the Living God, Whose Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was sent to be the propitiation for our sins (1 Jhn. 4:10). They have not been
written just for our salvation and admonition alone. A substantial part of the
Holy Book contains prophecies which warn us of things to come. In days of old,
holy men of God, moved by the Holy Spirit, prophesied of things that would
come, events that would happen in the Grace Age, and events that are now
happening in our days. All in all, the Holy Book shows us the
predestinated plan of the Living God in Christ Jesus, and what Satan has been
seeking to do to thwart that plan.

The text of
this study is the Book of Revelation chapter 9:1-12. Our study of this Bottomless
Pit will take us back both to the past and forward to the future as we
compare “spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13). In this
study, we are looking at the Bottomless Pit as a whole and not
specifically at the First Woe.

“And
the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth:
and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as
the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by
reason of the smoke of the pit.
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was
given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth,
neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not
the seal of God in their foreheads.
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they
should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a
scorpion, when he striketh a man.
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall
desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle;
and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as
the faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of
lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of
their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their
tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit,
whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his
name Apollyon.
One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."

VISIONS

Sometime in
the year 96 A.D., during his exile on the Isle of Patmos, the Apostle John was
caught up in the Spirit of the Lord on the Lord's day and shown the vision of
a chain of events that would take place in the Church and on the earth.
Contrary to what many preachers have taught, John did not travel to the
future. He did not travel to any particular future year or age, to see what
was going on. No, John was not transported or “teleported” to the future.
He was caught up in the Spirit into the Heaven. He was caught up into the
Spirit of Christ to view certain prophetic events. He was shown the vision of
events of the future and of the past. It is plain from his writing that he
penned what he literally saw, such as, a man on a horse with a bow but no
arrow, or locusts looking like “battle” horses with faces of men coming up
from a bottomless pit. He did not change into symbol anything he saw in the
vision. God simply showed him those things in that particular way. But what
those symbols meant was not so simple, for the things of God are spiritually
discerned and not naturally understood (1 Cor. 2:14). The Book of Revelation
must be carefully and rightly divided between what is literally spoken of and
what is spiritually represented by the symbols.

FIRST WOE

In
Revelation 8:12-13, after the sounding and the passing of the 4th Trumpet,
a flying angel announced the coming of Three Woes that would strike the
earth. Revelation 9:1-12 describes the First Woe. The events described
in this particular prophetic would take place right in the middle
of the last week of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel's prophecy when the
Antichrist breaks his covenant with the many political and religious heads of
the world (Dan. 9:24-27). The Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition,
would have just killed the Two Witnesses who would have been troubling
him by their preaching of the Word of God for some 1260 days or 42 months
(Rev. 11:3-12; 8:6-12). He now sits in the Temple of Jerusalem and proclaims
that he himself is God (2 Thess. 2:3-4). He is Satan incarnate, and the Abomination
that makes desolate the sacred sacrificial place of the temple of the Living
God of Israel.

In this
vision, John was shown some particular demonic activities of one fallen star.
Even now, all that were shown to him are taking place, but the height of total
fulfillment of this vision would be reached during that first 5 months of the
middle of the 70th Week of Daniel's prophecy (Rev. 9:5,10).

FALLEN
STAR, KEY, BOTTOMLESS PIT

When this
vision was shown to him, the Beloved Apostle was taken back to the past to see
the source of the wrath that was to come upon the earth. Remember, what we
read in the writing of John were exactly what he saw in his vision. And only
by the Spirit of Revelation, can we understand what the vision is all about.

“And
the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth:
and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”
– Revelation 9:1

Unlike the star
that fell upon the waters of the earth, under the 3rd Trumpet (Rev.
8:10), which points to the cosmic disturbances to be brought about by the
ministries of the Two Witnesses, this star is an angelic being,
and he is none other than Lucifer “and to him was given the key of the
bottomless pit”. Lucifer had sought to be like the Most High God. He was
an original creation of God, yet he was deceived. Who deceived him? No one but
he himself did it (cf. 1 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 6:3). He fell. He was cast down from his
estate and became the Adversary of God. [Note: Many
so-called Bible believers claim Matthew 24:24 that they are the elect and
therefore could not be deceived. True, no one could deceive the elect. But
like Lucifer, the anointed cherub who was full of wisdom (Ezek. 28:12), these
so-called believers are deceiving themselves.]

Satan
dragged a third of all angelic beings down with him in his fall. And since
then there has been constant wars in heaven between the angels who stayed
loyal to the Creator and those who followed the Adversary. Read Revelation
12:7-9 cf. 12:4a. Those who followed Satan were outcasts. They were stripped
of their rightful estates and their direct access to God's Throne. They became
earth bound. They could no longer exercise their authorities in the heavenly
places as those who remained loyal to their Creator could. They were but
trouble-makers who perverted the powers they possessed. They were the “spiritual
wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Sinking lower than any creature
could sink, their very thoughts and actions were only evil continually. Hence,
the word, “devils” — “do evils”.

This fallen
star was given a key just as the Morning Star, Jesus Christ, was also
given a key (Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7). Satan was given the key – the authority
or badge of power – to do what he had to do, and would do, with the Bottomless
Pit. He was the god of this evil world. [Note: Some preachers denied
that Satan was given any “key”, hence they denied that he had any
power of authority. They believed that the “star” of Revelation 9:1
was not Satan but rather a holy angel who, upon given the key to the
bottomless pit, flew so swiftly to earth that gave the Apostle John the
impression of a star “falling” to earth. (Compare Revelation 20:1.)
Satan is a fallen angel.] Read Ephesians 2:2 and
6:12.

The Fall of
Mankind was part of God's plan that a predestinated people might come to the
perfect stature in Christ Jesus (Romans 8). So, then, God used Satan (so to
speak) to try His predestinated seed. And Satan, being what he is, would
always impersonate every move of God to try and deceive God's elect, if
possible. Did not he even try to deceive Jesus Christ into worshipping
him? Read Matthew 4:8-9.

We
understand from the Scriptures that God has ordained a Kingdom – Holy
City, New Jerusalem – to be built for His Only Begotten Son (Rev.
21:1-22:5). The builder of this very beautiful spiritual city is God Himself.
This Kingdom of God has a sure foundation who is none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11; Heb. 11:8-10). The key was given to Christ (Isa.
22:22; Matt. 28:18; Rev. 3:7). He has absolute power and authority. And the
Apostle Peter was the first among the disciples of Christ to receive the keys
to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 16:15-19). From the Day of Pentecost, Peter
and the other apostles began to open the Kingdom of Heaven, bringing forth and
displaying the precious Truth of God's Eternal Life, Divine Healings,
Spiritual Gifts, et cetera. They had the authority and the power to do those
works. When Satan set forth to impersonate the work of God, he began by
impersonating this very Kingdom of Heaven, even from the time mankind was cast
out of the Garden of Eden. His demons would even impersonate the true servants
of the Lord Jesus. But notice, he was given the key to the Bottomless Pit.

Contrary to
some teachings, the Bottomless Pit is not Eternal Hell or the Eternal
Lake of Fire. The words “eternal” and “hell/lake of fire”
should not be equated with the words “bottomless” and “pit”
respectively. There is no such a thing as a Lake of Fire where souls are
burned continuously without end. To the average Christians the meaning of the
word “eternal” or “everlasting” in the Bible appears “as
is” defined in the English Dictionary — “forever and ever, without an
end”. This gives rise to the Doctrine of Eternal Hell Fire which
teaches that all wicked souls are burned continuously without end in the Lake
of Fire. However, the opposite is true. The Lake of Fire is not eternal
and will end after a period or age. All wicked souls will be annihilated
after they have their part in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 21:8; 20:11-15; cf.
Ezek. 28:11-19). The only souls that will be kept alive are those that have
the life of the Eternal God, Who alone has immortality (1 Tim. 6:16). Outside
of God, there is no life whatsoever.

A pit is a
hole, or an abyss. Every pit has a bottom. But here we see a Bottomless Pit,
sometimes called the bottomless chasm or abyss. No, it is certainly not a hole
that is dug straight down through the centre of the earth until it opens up on
the other side. Also, no where on the earth is there such a pit that has a lid
over it and padlocked. The pit, shown to John in this vision, speaks of a
structure that is filthy, diabolical or fiendish.
Having no bottom, it has no foundation. Any structure that has no
foundation is utterly useless and worthless. Certainly, it would be futile for
anyone, who is swept into this Bottomless Pit, to escape. In falling he
would continue to fall and would find it impossible to get out of its trap.

Yes, Satan
is building his unholy city, a religious impersonation of the
real thing of God. As Lucifer, Satan was endowed with wisdom and knowledge
(Ezek. 28:12-15). But in conceiving his own seed of deceit – that he could
be like the Most High – he became perverted (Isa. 14:12-14). Satan now seeks
to pervert the Truth of God. It is by his religious approach that he
possesses the whole world. Having possession of the key of the Bottomless
Pit, Satan has the power to counterfeit God's work by building
himself an empire, a great religious structure that encompasses the whole
world and deceiving all that look upon its so-called beauty. That unholy city
is called “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH”(Gen. 11:4; Rev. 17:4-5). And as John
(who types the Beloved Bride of Christ) was shown the vision of the demonic
forces of the Bottomless Pit, the Church of God is given the revelation
on how Satan and his spirits are working to accomplish their plan. These
demonic spirits are fallen angels that deceive the masses by religious
flatteries. They chain the people and cause them to wear garments of God's
Word mixed with men's. Their ultimate intention is to cause total destruction
of the people.

SMOKE OR
CLOUD

“And
he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the
smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of
the smoke of the pit.”
– Revelation 9:2

With the
authority given to him, Satan began to exercise his power. When he unlocked
the Bottomless Pit he was able to display his power and works. He began
to build his empire – a great city, a great church – that had no
foundation. As the key turned and the filthy system was opened, a great
smoke came forth from the pit of hell like smoke which puffed out of a
great furnace. It was so dense that the sun was obscured and the air was
polluted.

What a
great move! Satan counterfeited the very great cloud, or smoke, of the
glory of God which God had often manifested to the children of Israel (Exod.
16:10; 19:18; Num. 9:15-16; 2 Chron. 5:13; Isa. 4:5). The Pillar of Cloud or
Smoke shows the Presence of God. It is a covering for the children of
God (Psm. 105:39). With God's Glory Cloud came the Pentecostal Fire as
was seen on the Day of Pentecost in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts
1:9-11; 2:1-4). (There is no smoke without fire, as the saying goes.) The fire
is the light that lights every true believer of the Living God in this world
of darkness even as it cleanses them. However, this great smoke of the Bottomless
Pit was not accompanied by any fire. There was no light. Notice, God's
glory cloud (or holy smoke) came from above, Satan's unholy smoke came from
below. But from afar, it might be difficult to tell them apart. Something as
big as this would certainly catch the attention of the onlookers just as God
did with His Great Cloud.

Friends,
the vision certainly does not speak of a literal smoke but a spiritual one.
Yes, there are teachings which expound that this smoke and the locusts, with
stings of scorpions in their tails (in verses 3 to 10), would literally come
out of hell (a pit in the earth?) during the Great Tribulation and fill
the whole earth, choking and inflicting sufferings upon the people. However, I
beg to differ.

Throughout
the ages, Satan has always tried to outdo God. He is always devising a bigger
and more attractive system than God's. He builds more attractive religious
places of worship, makes more colorful clothes for his religious prophets and
teachers, and creates many more alluring religious things to please the
masses. Hence, the towering smoke of the Bottomless Pit speaks of false
glory, a pretension that God is there in the system. But do
the religious people understand what they are looking at? Do
they know what they are really worshipping? Unfortunately the majority of them
do not. Like the Samaritan woman whom Jesus conversed with at the well, they
too do not know what they are worshipping (Jhn. 4:20-24). Like the children of
Israel in their exodus out of Egypt, they too are so easily deceived into
worshipping a false god (Exod. 32:1-10). Sadly, because of the ignorance of
the people, Satan is being worshipped in many churches today.

Man are by
nature religious because Adam was created in the image of God. Man has the
innate urge to worship His Creator. However, because of sin man is corrupted
in many ways. He is no longer spiritual. His approach to God is greatly
affected by his sinful nature, such as are described in 2 Timothy 3:2-5 — “lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof”. With a personality taint
of corruption, man tends to worship God only on his own selfish terms. And
Satan, knowing this weakness in man since the Fall, has been using it to his
advantage to build his religious kingdom. Taking advantage of that weakness,
Satan has created a system of traditional religions with great physical
beauty and great intellectual display. He sprinkles it with just a little
of God's Word to make it look godly and holy so he could please the religious
emotion of men and women. It was enough for Satan to deceive countless souls
with false hopes of salvation thereby channeling them into his Bottomless
Pit. Once a man falls into it, he is trapped. It is hard for him to get
out; he will just keep falling, falling, and falling. And the deeper he falls,
the harder it is for him to get out of that fiendish pit.

This
so-called “presence of God”, the smoke of the Bottomless Pit
created by Satan, has literally taken the religious world by storm in this
20th Century. As soon as God had poured out His Spirit to revive His Church,
Satan began to counterfeit those gifts of the Holy Spirit. Through the
intellect of Satan's servants, the gifts of God are blatantly
impersonated. The impersonations are so real that in almost every church
gathering those gifts are much sought after by the people. Today, we see a
so-called “great revival” in many churches. Proclamations such as “the
glory of God is here”, “we feel the presence of the Lord here”,
and such likes are often heard among the worshippers just because they spoke
in tongues, prophesied, or felt some sensations. They tend to believe that
such manifestations are the result of the baptism, or the filling, or the gift
of the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately,
what we see is hardly the real genuine Baptism of the Holy Spirit. One question
we should always bear in mind is: “What is the Holy Spirit given for?”The answer could not be: “That we may speak in tongue, prophesy, have
certain gifts, or just to feel good.” The obvious answer is found
in John 14:26 — “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom
the Father will send in my name, HE SHALL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, AND BRING ALL
THINGS TO YOUR REMEMBRANCE, WHATSOEVER I HAVE SAID UNTO YOU.”Amen!
That's the purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Truly, all
true born-again Bible believers are sealed unto the day of redemption by the
Holy Spirit. Yet, many who claim to have the Holy Spirit have never felt led
to be taught by the Spirit at all. Isn't the Holy Spirit given to guide us
into all things that are Christ's and to glorify Christ?

“I
have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto
you.
All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall
take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."– John 16:12-15

Isn't that
wonderful? Yes, yet there are a great number of Christians who claim to have
the Holy Spirit but whose faith is contrary to the simple teachings of the
Word of God. Simple basic teachings such as Water Baptism in the Name of
Jesus Christ (not Water Baptism in the Name of Father, Son and Holy
Ghost), Oneness of the Godhead (not a Three-in-One Godhead), Fornication
– both spiritual and natural – brought the Fall of Mankind(that
is, the Serpent Seed doctrine, not the partaking of a literal fruit), Predestination
by the Foreknowledge of God (not some theory that “God does not know
who would be saved”), and even the Annihilation of the Wicked Dead
(not the wicked having eternal life and living in hell fire forever and ever).
Truly, by their fruits – the heart confessions of their faith – ye shall
know them. A confession against the Word of God would come to light in that
day of judgement. Jesus said:

“A
good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things:
and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned."– Matthew 12:35-37 (cf. Lk.
6:43-46)

“Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity."– Matthew 7:21-23

These words
of our Lord should cause many Gospel ministers and miracle workers to
seriously examine what they are doing. There are a great many “Gospel
Ministers” who are doing God a service without it being the Will of God.
Many may claim that “God has called me” but the fruits of their
mouth bear witness to the fact that their faith are not anchored in the Will
of God. And the Will of God is found in the Word of God. Any faith that is
contrary to the Word is not in the Will of our Heavenly Father. It is one
thing for us to know Jesus Christ, but it is another for Jesus Christ to know
us. One may confess that he knows Jesus yet does not do His Will. Hence, any
great work done for God would be done in vain. It is important that Jesus
Christ knows us intimately just like Abraham and Isaac knew their
wives who were completely submissive to their husbands.

SUN AND
AIR

As the
Apostle John viewed the vision, the great smoke got bigger and bigger until it
blocked out the sun, and congested and polluted the air. Light
as well as air are needed for all living things. If the sun is darkened and
the air is polluted, natural life is threatened. Spiritually, this phenomenon
speaks of Satan's move to darken the Glory of the Son of God and the Life
of the Spirit in the realm of Christian Worship and Faith. As Satan fans
his smoke and increases his counterfeit “presence of God” in many churches
today, including the Endtime Message churches, he is actually keeping
the worshippers from seeing and glorifying the True Son of the Living
God. With their eyes irritated by the smoke, the worshippers are getting a different
revelation of the Lord God. You may say: “O, aren't the people
worshipping Jesus in the churches?” My question is: “Are they
really worshipping the Christ of the Bible?” Like the Samaritan woman at
the well, like the Pharisees, like the Sadducees, and like the Scribes, they
may claim they are believing the Word and are worshipping the God of the
Bible. However, nine out of ten of them just do not know what they are
worshipping. Satan's counterfeit of the real “Holy Ghost” gospel and
revival has darkened the Light of God's Truth in their gatherings. Its
smoke has smudged and blurred the eyes of the worshippers so much so that it
has blinded them from seeing the Glorified Son of God. What else could the
worshippers do but to blindly follow their blind leaders in the thick dark
smoke of false glory, only to fall into the ditch (Matt. 15:14). The air –
atmosphere – of worship simply is thickened with shouts and cries of “amen”,
“hallelujah” and “praise the Lord” to every strange
teaching and manifestation. The Roman Catholics and all her “separated”
brethren, the Lutherans, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the
Charismatics, and et cetera, have their respective shouts as they congregate
together; the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons have their own strange
declarations of faith; and not the least, the Branhamites have their quotes of
“The Spoken Word” books and tapes, crying, “The prophet said
this…” and “The prophet said that…” Not knowing that
their lives, their souls, are being choked with pollutants of misleading
doctrines and false teachings of men, and are in danger of death, the
worshippers continue on like zombies in their worships. Truly, a strong
delusion has come upon many assemblies of worshippers.

“For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let,
until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders,
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness."
– 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12

LOCUSTS
WITH POWER OF SCORPIONS

“And
there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given
power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth,
neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not
the seal of God in their foreheads.
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they
should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a
scorpion, when he striketh a man."
– Revelation 9:3-5

As Satan
continues to smoke the churches with his bogus “presence of God”,
his demonic spirits are working within that religious atmosphere. It is by
these means that he is able to achieve such a great deception among
Christians. As God sends forth His heavenly angels to minister to His earthly
servants, Satan also sends forth his hellish demons to minister to his own.

Satan's
ministers are wolves in sheep's clothing — in every way they look like real
spiritual Christians, humble, meek, caring, and et cetera. When they open
their mouths to confess their faith, only then could a Bible believer know who
they are.

These
demonic angels were depicted as locusts in John's vision to show the
frenzy and destructive nature of their ministries. We know that pests, such as
caterpillars, palmerworms, cankerworms and locusts eat the greens of the
fields. But the locusts do not just eat the greens, they are “strippers of
the life” of the greens. And they do it bit by bit. When they gather in
large groups, they tend to swarm from place to place. Farmers are completely
helpless if a swarm of locusts comes upon their field of growing crops. The
growing crops would just die at the mouths of the locusts.
Within minutes, the field would be in ruins. That is exactly what these
locusts (demons) from the smoke of the bottomless pit are doing. Taking
advantage of human weakness, they prey on the minds of the intellectual,
theological, seminary- trained ministers, who hold a string of degrees, and
also those foolish self-styled ministers of God, who go about parroting the
words and sayings of true men of God without any revelation of what they
meant. These demons would agitate the ego of the puffed-up ministers and exert
their influence over them. These men, in turn, would gradually sap the
strength and life of the worshippers who congregate with them to listen
to their teachings. Read Matthew 15:7-9 and Luke 11:52 and see if this is not
the same situation that our Lord Jesus had reproved the Scribes and the
Pharisees.

“Ye
hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men."

“Woe
unto you, lawyers [experts in the law of Moses]! for ye have taken away the
key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering
in ye hindered.”

Oh, my! It
happened even in Jesus' time. And since the beginning of the Church Age many
false apostles have appeared with their false teachings (Rev. 2:2). That same
spirit of hypocrisy is also right here in our time. Believe this, my friend:
if you do not come out of the organized religious system of Mystery,
Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of The Earth
immediately, you would be destroyed soon (Eph. 5:5-17; Matt. 22:11-14). If you
have enough “sheep sense” in your head, come out of her immediately and
stop those nonsensical beliefs of saying what your denomination says, what
your church says, what your pastor says, what your priest says, what your
prophet says, or what your apostle says. They are not the Absolute
Authority, the Word of God is! All their words sound good but the letter
of their words kills. However, the Spirit of the Logos gives
life. Come right into the Light (Sun) and Life (Air) of the Living Spirit of
Christ, the Word of God, and breathe the Life of the Spirit and receive His
eternal life. Pray “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him” (Eph. 1:17). God is alive! Amen.

Normally,
locusts do not have power to torment any living creature. However, these
hellish locusts were given the power like that of the scorpions whose
poisonous stings could cause excruciating pain in the body of man and
numbness, dullness, confusion and delusion in his mind.

“And
they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails:
and their power was to hurt men five months.”
– Revelation 9:10

Demons love
to play “follow the leader” game. When Satan fell from his heavenly
estate, he made a third of the angelic beings to “follow his tail”. He is
like “the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail” (Isa. 9:15).
Now, these fallen angels are as perverted as Satan Himself. They, too, are
causing “Christians” to hold to their tails as they work through so-called
servants of God. These “Christians” are so numbed by the stings of
the locust spirits that their spiritual sense, if there are any left at all,
have become confused, dull and delirious to recognize the Truth of the Word of
God. They would simply ignore their bondage to the locust spirits and their
torment in the hellish smoky system even when God's Truth is made known to
them. In their delusion they are made to believe a lie. Yes, they are like the
religious Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes who, under the influence of the
fallen spirits, were holding to, and teaching for doctrines, the traditions of
men. How people can sometimes become so stupid and foolish! Without the Holy
Spirit, they would just simply remain religious.

When hell
is totally opened up in the middle of Daniel's 70th Week, all those locust
spirits, which are manifesting themselves now, will really run wild on earth.
That would be the First Woe. Like the Beast which carries the Great
Whore, and later turns upon her (Rev. 17-18), the locust spirits will readily
and eventually torment the souls of all who do not have the Seal of God
in their foreheads. These people would be so tormented and hurt that they
would want to die. Yet, no matter what they would do to seek death, death will
flee from them. In other words, they could not even find the courage to commit
suicide. It would not be there in their spirit. Hence, their souls would have
to bear the torment of the scorpion stings of the hellish locust spirits for
five months.

Friend, if
you are in the religious system that is not God's, you'd better flee from it
now before it is too late. If you are believing in something that is not fully
backed up by the Revelation of the Word of God, but is merely based on
the sayings or teachings of some great men, creeds, dogmas, religious books
and tapes, et cetera, that make you jump and shout praises to God, you'd
better reexamine your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You'd better put on the true
garment of the Word of God, otherwise you would certainly be cast away
into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
(Matt. 22:11-14).

THE GREEN OF
THE EARTH

Notice that
“it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth,
neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not
the seal of God in their foreheads”. This very statement verifies that
the locusts in this vision are not natural locusts. Natural locusts eat and
devour the green of the earth. Read Exodus 10:13-15. However, some may argue
that these locusts with stings of scorpions are literal and that they
are created by God to torment those who reject His Gospel. Friends, the Bible
tells me that after God had finished all His creations He ceased from His
works (Gen. 2:1-2; Heb. 4:10). These creatures which John saw were demons
engaged in demonic activities upon the earth.

What then
does the “green” here, such as grass and tree, refer to? The elect,
of course! These are the green that the locust spirits cannot
hurt nor touch. They are the green of the earth for they are
planted by the rivers of the Living Waters of God's Word and Spirit (Psm. 1:3;
23:2; 52:8; Hos.14:8). They have the Holy Spirit of Life! Amen. Satan's angels
cannot hurt those who have the Seal of God in their foreheads. And in that
first five months of the beginning of the Great Tribulation, when the First
Woe is brought upon the earth, the locust spirits would also not be able
to hurt those who are sealed under the ministries of the Two Witnesses,
and the Foolish Virgins. They would only be able to hurt those men and
women who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads.

THE SHAPES
OF THE LOCUSTS

“And
the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on
their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the
faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of
lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of
their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to
battle."
– Revelation 9:7-9

There were
no such locusts on earth and never will there be any. Knowing this to be so,
some prophetic teachers, therefore, look upon them as descriptions of some
sort of literal war machines such as tanks and aircraft, and interpreted them
as such. This interpretation is supported by Revelation 9:17-19. Those are
indeed military weapons of wars.

The shapes
of the locusts from the Bottomless Pit as seen in the vision symbolize
several things. Firstly, they were likened “unto horses prepared unto
battle” which conveys the idea that the demons were sent forth to battle
another principality – that of Christ Jesus – to destroy it (cf. Rev.
19:11-16). “And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of
many horses running to battle” depicts the swiftness of their attack in
the battle. They are spiritual war machines, so to speak. Remember that these
satanic spirits work in both realms. The Scriptures clearly tell us that there
will always be spiritual warfares, in Heaven and on Earth (Rev. 12:7; Matt.
11:12) as long as God has not brought in the last elect into His Kingdom. So, “put
on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with
truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”
(Eph. 6:11-18).

Next, “on
their heads were as it were crowns like gold and their faces were as the faces
of men” depicts the false glory placed upon intellectual men whom the
locust spirits used to build Satan's “Church of God”. Just look at “Christianity”
today, and you will see the BIG beautiful buildings, BIG programmes, and BIG
everything. Then look at its leaders, and you will never fail to see the “holier
than thou” image they have created for them- selves. They are graduates
of some prestigious seminaries, crowned with square hats and conferred
strings of golden degrees which give them the rights to use various titles
to their names. They are angels of light, aren't they? Look at their faces.
Are they not faces of intellectual men, very much like the Pharisees,
Sadducees and Scribes? They are nothing but hypocrites and wolves in sheep's
clothing! Do they not have certain traditions in their religious stance
that you just cannot fail to notice them as “Reverend”, “Right Reverend”,
“Very Reverend”, “Cardinal”, “Monsignor”, “Archbishop”,
Doctor, or many other suchlike fanciful titles, which are conferred upon them
each time they completed some seminarial studies (Matt. 23:1-7)? Even Isaiah
spoke of them in chapter 65 and verse 5: “Which say, Stand by thyself,
come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.” But “these are a
smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day” saith the Lord. Now,
was Christ known by such a stance? Not at all. He was just too ordinary to
attract any notice (Isa. 53:2-3). He did not come from any recognized
ecclesiastical order of the day. “He could only be Baalzebub”, so
they thought of Him, and called Him so. The same is true of Christ's disciples
and the prophets of old. If they were here in our days, without “Th.D”,
“D.D.”, and such letters to their names, do you think that they will be
accepted by the BIG mainstream religious Christian orders? Certainly not! O
my, how time has changed people and religions!

In the
first half of 1st Corinthians chapter 11, the Apostle Paul expounded the
subject of headship and its glory. In verse 15, he said that “if a woman
has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering”.
The long hair on the woman's head indicates the headship over her. It shows
her submission to the authority over her and which covers her.
Now, we know that the woman is a type of the Church that has been espoused to
Christ (2 Cor. 11:2), and Christ, the Man, is the Head of the Church, the
Woman. Her glory is, therefore, Christ, the Word of God. The Church is crowned
with the glory of the Word. Hence, if shame is heaped upon a believing woman
for dishonoring her headship by cutting off (or trimming) her hair which is
her covering, what consequences will the Church face if she cuts off
(or removes) the glorious covering of God's Holy Word, which has been given to
her, and substitutes It with some manmade creeds and dogmas? Undoubtedly she
will face dire consequences. Obviously Satan had put to use whatever knowledge
he had acquired. He simply made his locust spirits to appear as if “they
had hair as the hair of women” to impersonate the crowning glory of the
Word of God. My, my! Made believers, false teachers, false Christianity –
all very religious – looking just like the real things! Yes, they are
very attractive and seductive! But “their teeth were as
the teeth of lions”! Oh, what great teeth they had! The better to kill,
of course. Like roaring lions, they walk about, seeking whom they may devour
(cf. 1 Pet. 5:8; Ezek. 22:25; Joel 1:6,7).

In order to
withstand the attack of the enemy, the Bible believers are told by the Apostle
Paul to put on the whole armour of God (Eph. 6: 10-18). The breastplate
of righteousness, faith and love, (cf. 1 Thess. 5:8) is a part of the whole
armour. It protects that part of the spiritual body which holds our faith,
love and righteousness in the Lord's Promised Word. Satan's demons also “had
breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron”. But they were
breastplates of might and standing in a BIG system. Look at Goliath of the
Philistines who came to challenge the army of Israel to a duel. He was a BIG
man and he had trust in the authority of the leaders of the BIG nation of the
Philistines, and in the suit of iron armour that was specially designed and
made for him. Big is Might. Iron is Strength. Together they symbolize Indestructibility.
Especially with his breastplate of iron covering his chest to protect his
heart, Goliath believed that no one could kill him. Ha! But all that faith was
only inside his skull — the place of human intellect. (Wasn't the “skull”
the place where they had crucified Jesus Christ (Jhn. 19:17-18)? Weren't there
many seminary educated men who had crucified the Word of God in their
intellectual skulls throughout the past history of the Church?) David had full
knowledge of that when he confronted Goliath in the Name of the Lord. And with
just one stone of faithproperly placed, he put an end to that
intellectual, egoistic and carnal adversary of God. Amen!

THE KING
OF THE LOCUSTS

“And
they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose
name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name
Apollyon.”
– Revelation 9:11

This verse
needs no interpretation. It is obvious that every army has a leader or a king.
The king of the locust spirits is none other than Satan, the Adversary
of God. His name in the Hebrew tongue, Abaddon, tells us that he is a
destroying angel, and in the Greek tongue, he is Apollyon,
a destroyer who destroys utterly. Yes, Satan, a liar and a murderer
from the beginning, seeks only to steal and to kill (Jhn. 10:10; 8:44; Rev.
11:7). However, his time is short, and he knows it for Christ must return and
rule the earth as the King of all kings for a thousand years. When Satan's time is
up, an angel from Heaven will be given the key to the Bottomless Pit.
This angel is given the authority and power to get hold of Satan and to bind
him with a great chain and seal him in his own realm that he could no longer
have the power to operate. “And cast him into the bottomless pit,
shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no
more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled” (Rev. 20:3).
With a divine seal set upon him and his filthy hole Satan is prevented from
deceiving the nations while Christ and His Saints reign over the earth.
After the thousand-year Age of Regeneration is completed, Satan will be
released for a little season – and for the last time – after which he will
be cast into the Lake of Fire and be annihilated (Rev. 20:1-10).

CONCLUSION
OF THE WHOLE MATTER

My fellow
Bible believers, seeing that this evil is spread before us and the people of
the world, what manner of people ought we to be? All that God has planned and
set forth to accomplish — the redemption of His people unto His Kingdom,
Satan has tried to thwart God's plan by placing a counterfeit of it before the
people. But God permitted it so that the genuine believers would be manifested
and that the make-believers be exposed. Satan's ersatz of the real thing
cannot deceive the elect. There is no way that he can ever do that. He can
only confuse and cause chaos like he had done in the past among the people in
the plain of Shinar and in the camps of Israel.

Even as
Satan has but a short time left to carry out his devious plan, God is also
doing a quick work to finish up the Mystery of God, that is, the
grafting in of the Gentiles (Rev. 10:7; Rom. 11:13-33; 16:25-27; Eph.
3:1-12; Col. 1:25-27). The fullness of the Gentiles is about over. We
are at the end of the closing up of that mystery for we are living in the
Laodicean Church Age, a time of lukewarmness (Rev. 3:14-22). God knows what to
do with believers who are cold or hot, but He will simply spew out of His
mouth those who are lukewarm. Yes, in this closing time, God has reserved a
people for His Name who will purchase the real Word of God that is tried in
the fire and all things spiritual and eternal. These believers will
dig deep into the Word of Truth and be anchored in the Rock of their
Salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“For
thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will
shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and
I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith
the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of
hosts."
– Haggai 2:6-9

“See
that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from
him that speaketh from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once
more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that
are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be
shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.“
– Hebrews 12:25-28

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and
keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
– Ecclesiastes 12:13